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Imagewriter II Ink Ribbons

Posted by: bigmessowires on 2017-06-25 14:55:31 What's a good source for Imagewriter II ink ribbons that will actually work? I see several listed on eBay, but most are described as "POS". I'm not sure what that acronym means (other than piece of sh-t) but I'm guessing it's p----- old stock. I believe these ribbons have a relatively short shelf life, so an old stock ribbon from the 90s has little chance of working now.

Posted by: bigmessowires on 2017-06-25 15:37:10 Rather amazingly, the ribbon that's in there now still works pretty well. I have no idea how old it is, but this is the result from the self-test print. Now I just need some tractor feed paper and a printer cable to relive the glory days of Print Shop.

Posted by: Johnnya101 on 2017-06-25 16:54:14 Black ribbons for them are sold everywhere online. Color ribbons are still made in china thanks to Eraser. If he's all out i might sell mine if ya want it.

Posted by: unity on 2017-06-25 16:55:38 The ribbons themselves are not the issues, its the rubber rollers inside that break down and cause it to jam up.

Posted by: Johnnya101 on 2017-06-25 18:27:20 ESPECIALLY with the old stock color ribbons!

Posted by: bigmessowires on 2017-06-25 18:51:49 So what are the "POS" ribbons I see advertised? Do they have the old rubber rollers that are likely to have already broken down? They seem to use POS like it's an acronym everybody should know.

Posted by: Themk on 2017-06-25 18:57:51 POS, Point Of Sale? Dot-matrix printing technology is still heavily used in POS systems. Actually, just yesterday I got a dot-matrix printed receipt!

Posted by: unity on 2017-06-25 20:26:25 I picked up a couple ribbons of black from an office supply store. I am sure they are not exactly new stock, but I am sure they are not super old either. The ribbons are used in A LOT of stuff yet.

Posted by: CC_333 on 2017-07-05 12:34:58 I find it humorous that we're well into the 21st century, with all this advanced technology, and businesses still rely on 30 year old printer technology. I guess, if it works, stick with it. c

Posted by: Themk on 2017-07-05 12:51:33 It is not a huge surprise that there are businesses that use dot-matrix printing technology. It's incredibly reliable, and extremely cheap (to print). There are also some environments that lead to other print technologies not being a very good fit, such as a kitchen printer, where the heat from appliances may ruin a thermal-printed ticket.

Posted by: techknight on 2017-07-06 18:54:48 The biggest purpose for Dot Matrix are businesses that use multi-copy carbon paper, and still does everything by paper.

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